Jenson Button believes the new Pirelli tyres will have a significant impact on racing this season, making Sunday afternoons more exciting for both drivers and fans.

From an early stage in its testing programme, Pirelli has set out to improve the show by producing soft tyres that have a more noticeable performance drop off and more stable harder compounds. The degradation is aimed at mixing up strategies and forcing drivers to consider tyre management in their approach to qualifying and the race.

All four compounds were available to test - two of which will be brought to each race - and Button said the differences between them should ensure exciting racing.

"We've tried the different Pirelli tyres - there are big differences across the compound range; not only in terms of laptime, but also with degradation and durability," he said. "It's going to be fun for racing, I think, and it's what everyone wanted. The TV viewers will certainly know the differences between the tyres."

Button got his first taste of the McLaren MP4-26 on Friday, spending the morning getting comfortable and the afternoon working on the tyres. He said he had not had a chance to push the car to the limit, but enjoyed toying with its KERS.

"The morning was spent getting me satisfactorily fitted in the car, adapting to the hybrid - which is new to me - and getting used to how the system works. I like the power boost it gives you. I felt a lot more comfortable with the car at the end of the day after we'd played around with a few things in the cockpit. We've made some good progress."

He added: "It's been a good first day. On Sunday, I hope we can start to have a crack at seeing what the car really has in it."